6 Collectible Artists on bluethumb

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We’ve all collected something at some point in our lives – Pokemon cards, antique tea canisters, dolls that look way too lifelike (seriously, there used to be a house near my place with about thirty dolls in the window, and to this day I swear their eyes would follow as you walked past). But really, you can’t go past art for the ultimate collector’s item. Unlike those dolls, displaying art genuinely makes your home into a nicer environment and even ups your cool factor (again, a step up from the dolls). What’s more, if you pick the right piece, it could well give you a great financial return a few years down the track. With this in mind, we thought we’d let you in on six collectible artists who are currently stealing the spotlight (and look as though they’re set to keep going!). If you were thinking of starting an art collection of your own, now might just be a good time to start.

Loui Jover

First up, we have Loui Jover. Loui is prolific in his art making, and has quickly established his own highly distinctive style of painting using sumi ink on vintage books – and who knows, those very pages might be collector’s items themselves. Loui’s work has made a big splash all around the world as people fall in love with his inky subjects again and again; his pieces currently feature in the corporate collections of Qantas and Deutsche Bank, and has even met the approval of the Malaysian Royal Family. Although Loui currently produces art on a regular basis, they are never on the market for long, so be sure to snap one up if you love his style as much as everyone else does!

Kim Leutwyler

Since migrating to Australia in 2012 from the USA, where she attended Arizona State University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Kim Leutwyler‘s star continues to burn more and more brightly. In the past couple of years she has been a finalist in and several highly regarded art prizes, including our inaugural bluethumb Art Prize and the Portia Geach Memorial Award in 2016, and the Archibald Prize in 2015. She is also a fierce campaigner for LGBTQI representation (her very choice to commit to painting as a career is a declaration against gender borders, being a historically male-dominated area) and was recently included in Cosmopolitan’s ‘Rainbow List’ of influential and inspiring LGBTQI and allied Australians alongside the likes of Ruby Rose and Penny Wong. Not too shabby at all!

Matthew Quick

Mathew Quick‘s surrealist works are not only visually awesome (we’re talking technically and just for their sheer cool-factor), but they are also held in extremely high esteem by the art world. After returning to painting after a literary sojourn (albeit a serious one – he did write a novel that was shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel’s award, after all), Matthew is back in a big way, with his work having appeared in 70 major national art prizes, including the Paddington, the Black Swan and yes, you guessed it, the bluethumb Art Prize just to name a few. He has also had over 70 group shows and 14 solo shows, and has been well and truly covered by various press outlets along the way, including being named by BRW as one of Australia’s top 50 artists.

Rex Turnbull

Rex Turnbull burst onto the art scene after studying graphic design at university. Since then, he has exhibited all over the world and his work is in public and private collections including high profile politicians, a European royal family with a special connection to Australia and the Auckland Art gallery. He is also the winner of the Kelliher Award in Dunedin, NZ, and, just to cement his ‘global artist’ status, was made a fellow of the Royal society of Arts in London in 2007. This is definitely one collection gem that would translate wherever you end up!

Jimmy Donegan

Jimmy Donegan was runner up of the recent bluethumb Art Prize, however he has been highly esteemed for some years now, having won both the overall prize and the general painting prize in the 27th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award in 2010. In the words of the Australian Art Review, Jimmy’s works are “dazzling compositions of swirling, intensely-coloured dots, sometimes crossed by lines signifying the journey of the two snakes above and below the surface of the earth.” They are powerfully beautiful, and, having been exhibited widely across Australia, as well as appearing in collections both locally and globally, would make an exceptional contribution to any art collection.

Kirsten Sivyer

In case you hadn’t heard, Kirsten Sivyer was the overall winner of our highly competitive inaugural bluethumb Art Prize. This is not exactly surprising, given her long list of preceding prize placements, scholarships, artist residencies and exhibitions, however it nevertheless shows, undeniably, that Kirsten is one to watch, having already been the subject of articles and even a news report on Channel 7 following her bluethumb win. Judging from the looks of her bluethumb portfolio, impressive for both its technical skill and intriguing ideas, this success is set to continue.

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Although I have sold many of my works (paintings), until recently I have only displayed my work through Facebook (Lynn Pickering Artist), and local exhibitions here in Bunbury, south west Western Australia. Your newsletter will be looked forward to with great interest, Thank you.